Baby Mine
by ShafferTheFirst
Summary: Just a little Emma and Henry fluff for a certain friend :) A little Charming family as well. Post: 2x22


**Baby Mine**

For Beckah - Enjoy! Hope this makes you smile! :)

It was a rare occasion when she felt this way. Sadness was common. Loneliness; she was far too familiar with. Fear was another reoccuring emotion in her life, (although a certain few weeks she had experienced the feeling in a way she most definitely wasn't used to: _true_ fear. _For her child._)

But contentment? Contentment was quite the stranger. There had been moments before that had scratched the surface. But it wasn't until the dark of the night with the wind whispering into the sails and the gentle rocking of the ship as it moved through the sea, and she could see her parents asleep in their bunk, nestled together like two sleeping puppies worn out after a long day.

Most importantly, she could feel her baby curled up against her, where he hadn't been in what felt like an eternity. Life was going well for Emma Swan.

She could feel him stiring beside her, adjusting his postition in order to be as close to her as he possibly could. Her mind wandered back to the nights long ago in her jail cell when she couldn't sleep or her head grew weary or her heart began to ache again. It was almost like he could feel that she was hurting from the inside. If her hand was rested on her swollen belly during her times of sorrow, he would promptly kick the spot where it lay, as if to remind her that she wasn't alone in this mess. Her mind slipped back into her black moments. Henry's strong kicks never missed.

Henry, now much too big to be considered a baby, finally settled and whispered into the silence, "Mom? Are you awake?"

She humored him. "Am now."

He rolled onto his back and stared up at the ceiling. "Can't sleep."

"That makes two of us."

"Hey, Mom?"

"Yes, Henry?"

He grinned. "It was really awesome when you jumped on that lost one's back and knocked him out with a rock."

"Oh really?" she smiled, propping her head up with her elbow. "How about when I socked that guy in the mouth when he called me a stupid girl?"

"You mean _after_ you fell out of the tree and blew everyone's cover? 'cause that was pretty awesome too." He dared.

She let out a fake gasp. "Me falling is funny to you?"

"Yup."

"Oh really?" She whispered, "So which was better- that or a few hours ago when I tripped going up the ladder and landed in the floor on my butt?"

He giggled softly. "Definitely the ladder."

A smile escaped her lips, enjoying the sound of his laughter that she didn't realize how much she missed. "Or how about when I fell overboard on the way here and David had to come fish me out of an evil mermaid mosh pit?"

She had to act quickly to cover his mouth before his howls escaped, not wanting to wake anyone up. She struggled to contain her own chuckles while she shushed him. It took him a few minutes to calm down and let out a sigh.

"Hey, Mom?"

"Yes, Henry?"

"Why don't you call Gramps 'Dad' or Grandma 'Mom'?"

The question came as a shock to her. He noted that and continued.

"I mean, you called them that one time back home, why don't you do it anymore?"

"Kid...I-"

But he wasn't finished. "I'll bet it made them really happy when you did, since they never got to hear it when you were little." He glanced up at her with a pair if wide, innocent eyes, looking so much like his father when he did that. "I mean, you feel happy when I call you Mom, right?"

Emma was taken aback by his words. That thought had never crossed her mind before. The taste of calling her parents by those strange names had been sitting on her tongue for what felt like the longest time, but she couldn't bring herself to say them. Her wall prevented her from that in order to save herself from possible wounding, even though she knew she wouldn't be rejected this time.

She suddenly felt very selfish when it hit her that there was a fairly large chance they had been waiting for her to say that. _She_ not only missed out on having a family, but _they_ had as well. They never shut her out. They were never ashamed to claim her as their own. They never turned her away despite her troubled past. Hell, they barely knew anything about her past. But they never once pressured her to discuss her dark times no matter how much they probably wanted to know. What did they do? They jumped aboard the pathetic train wreck she called her life, lifted her from the splintered tracks, and happily took in a broken twenty eight year old that still had a lot of growing up to do. So really, what was stopping her?

Her eyes softened, mind playing back the first time he addressed her as that. "You're right, I do," she smiled, "and I'm sure it did make them happy."

"Indeed it did," someone said softly. Emma's head snapped up to see her mother smiling back at her. "Pardon me, but are you two nearly finished? Not that this isn't tender moment, but I think we could all use the sleep."

Her order wasn't stern, just very gentle and loving, with a hint of exhaustion. And Emma happily respected that. "Sorry. 'night, _Mom_." She poked her head up and grinned at her father, who was out like the dead. "'night, _Dad._" Snow didn't comment, but Emma could nearly feel the warmth of her smile in the air.

"And as for you..I think it's lights out for you too." She pulled the blanket over her son and burried her nose in his hair, daring herself for her next move. "'night, baby."

He glanced up at her from the corner of his eye, hiding his grin with the blanket's edge. "I'm eleven, not a baby."

"I know," she said, wrapping a tight arm around him and holding him close. "But you'll always be _my_ baby."

"Hey, Mom?" he whispered one last time.

She sighed, "Yes, Henry?"

He twisted his head to face her, planting a light kiss on her cheek.

"Nothin'. I just missed you a lot."


End file.
